Re: What is the preferred way to install packages from testing/unstable in stable?

Aniruddha wrote:

On Sun, May 17, 2009 at 4:38 PM, JoeHill <joehill@xxxxxxxxxxxx> wrote:
Aniruddha wrote:

I would like to install the latest version swfdec-mozilla (because it
offers autoplay). I intent to track stable as closely as possible. As
far I can tell there are four possibilities to achieve this:

1) Temporary enable testing/unstable repositories and install the program
2) Download *.deb from packages.debian org
3) Use apt-pinning
4) Compile from source, this requires option 1 to be enabled.

I use apt-pinning and it works really well. I followed the Debian
apt-pinning howto and now run a mix of Testing and Unstable.

http://wiki.debian.org/AptPinning

--

Thanks for the tip. Are there any downsides to be expected from this
method? e.g. accidentally pulling in dependencies for lots of packages
turning my 'stable' into 'testing'.

Well, there's no 'accidental' about anything ;) You just have to pay attention
when you install something to see what changes it's making to your system.
Aptitude is not going to surprise you unless you are perhaps asleep... :-\

Is this a better option then temporary enabling testing/unstable repositories
or downloading the debs from the debian.packages.org? And if so why?

I don't know much about Debian, but I know this is a really really bad idea.
Aptitude is an incredibly intelligent system for managing dependencies, let it
do it's job and don't fsck with it.

I'm really curious to find the best way to run stable while installing an
occasional testing/unstable package. :)

Pinning is the best way to go for this. This way, Aptitude can keep things nice
and tidy for you. You will not be impervious to bugs, but you will be far
better off than trying to keep track of things yourself.

--
J


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